Early morning

I've been meaning to post on various topics for the last several days. I really thought I was going to get to it last night, but lack of inertia and other tasks got in the way of my intentions.

But now, I'm up at 3 am, trying to decipher what bizarre movie is on USA Network while Hannah dozes in her swing.

She's been congested for the last several days and it was a combination of a stuffy nose and some hunger that awoke Lynda and I. Lynda is battling her own congestion, since she's been off her allergy medicine for the last several days--in preparation for this morning's appointment with an allergy doctor. Hopefully, she can get expert resolution of her condition and will feel better after today.

*****

Last night after dinner I took Sarah and Grace bike riding at the middle school next to our street. We were able to get on their track, which provided a continuous, flat surface for both girls to refine their cycling technique. Sarah is moving along very adeptly now. She can get the bike moving on her own and was using the lane marks in the track to help her correct the wobbling from side to side. She can pedal all the way around the track with no help from me at all. Grace is also doing quite well. She still uses her training wheels (which she now informs me is no longer satisfactory . . . but that's tomorrow's challenge), but she pedals furiously along and shows a lot of confidence.

Naturally, they didn't spend all of our time outside on the bikes, not when there was a sand pit sitting beside the long jump track. So, while they build sand castles, I observed a group of boys and their coaches practicing soccer next to the track. These boys might have been the middle school team, but they didn't seem much older than Sarah, who is only in second grade.

What was intriguing was the way the head coach was continuously berating several of the kids during the practice, but none more so than one unfortunate boy I'll call Jared.

It was clear (t0 the coach?) that Jared didn't have his head or heart in the game because on every drill, every repetition, every movement, the coach had a criticism.

Jared, come on!
Jared, move up on the ball!
Come on, Jared! No one's on you . . . attack!
Run, Jared!
Hussle, Jared!
Make the pass, Jared! He's right there waiting, Jared!
Are you okay, Jared?!
Come on, Jared!
Are you tired, Jared!

It became so oppressive a wave of criticism that I thought either a) Jared was the coach's son--which earned him a special brand of personal criticism or b) Jared secretly has the most potential on the team and the coach is determined to bring it out.

But most likely it was c) the coach simply doesn't like Jared's effort. Perhaps on a different day the coach belittles someone else, but if I was a parent standing there while the coach found endless amounts of things wrong with my kid, it would bother me greatly. I especially liked the fact that the coach got upset when Jared didn't make the proper cross-field pass to a waiting teammate. This after several minutes of abuse on every other thing he couldn't do correctly. It's no wonder that Jared was so busy focusing on his footwork, his breathing, his speed, his effort that he didn't spare a moment to look past himself.

I am sure that all of my reactions to this reveal me to be a softie, unwilling to expose my children to constructive criticism, unwilling to sublimate them to the concept of team, afraid for my girls fragile psyches. And maybe I'm not totally ready to see them treated that way. But some of this did seem a bit over the top.

Other posts on other topics coming soon. I promise.

Subtraction

Sometimes you can succeed by simplifying, by cutting through the preconceptions, by taking a leap of faith.

And if you do that you can find something new, something interesting.

For instance, what would you find if you took a classic movie and removed the motivating factor?

Well, you would get this oddly weird version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. (You can learn more about this project and see some more edited videos here.)

Or you could view this oddly mysterious view of the lonely life led by Jon Arbuckle. You know him. He's the owner and comic butt of jokes in the Garfield comic strip. But, let's take the titular cat out of the picture and you get a bizarre--and MUCH better--comic about loneliness and insanity. (This site has gotten lots of press, which you can review here.)

Or, you could throw caution to the wind and give your child a push. That's what Lynda did on Saturday while helping Sarah practice her bike riding. And lo and behold . . . she stayed upright! She even started pedaling and almost executed a turn. She hasn't challenged herself with biking up a hill (and we are staying away from uneven grounds so far), but there is no doubt that she faced the challenge, faced the fear, and came through.

Is the LOST Island . . . in Canada?

You are aware, I'm sure, that the 2008 Olympics are being held in Beijing later this summer.

But are you aware that there are strong indications that the mysterious Island of LOST has been shown to be located near Canada? Apparently, it's true. And here we all thought that the Island was somewhere in the Pacific. The odd triangulation of Beijing 2008, Canada, and LOST can be found in the design of the Canadian Olympic teams oddly familiar togs.

Canada has gained notoriety in recent Olympic years by having some of the most stylish team uniform designs of any participating nation. I remember some other years fondly--gotta love the blending of red and white (and I do like the graphic possibilities that the Maple Leaf provides.

The apparel company that has often supplied the Canadian teams of the past is Roots, and the company was so successful that the U.S. Olympic team has employed their design services in the past, but not (apparently) this year.

But Canada has decided to employ the design styles of Hbc this year. Not everyone is happy. Anyway, you've got to admit that the Canadian design has weird similarities to the LOST DHARMA logos.

(Thanks to DocArzt's Lost blog for the initial information.)

Having a baby is expensive . . .

. . . but this might be ridiculous!

And we're not even spending it on Hannah, because she's got clothes and toys to spare. That's a benefit of having two older sisters.

Nope, it's all going into the house.

We've removed paneling from the fireplace room, replaced it with drywall that we painted. We installed spot lights above the bookcase/fireplace area to improve overall lighting. We've painted the bookcases and mantel to match new color scheme. We're adjusting the look of the sofas to class them up a bit and bought new throw pillows. We've bought new picture frames to improve overall design of the room. We replaced the door and door jamb leading out onto the backyard deck.

But it doesn't stop there.

We've also repaired a bit of soffett out back and are getting all of the soffets repainted. Also, we are going to remove the old deck and replace it with a concrete patio. (These jobs are to come--beginning next week.)

But we're STILL not done.

This afternoon we are getting some deadwood removed from trees in the backyard, to avoid stuff falling on the roof and to generally improve things. AND we are getting the big (pretty well dead) tree right in front of the house removed altogether. Hopefully, that'll get started any minute now and will be done before I've got to take Sarah to her soccer game tonight.

And STILL we continue . . .

. . . because the city informs us that we need to repair/replace several slaps of sidewalk concrete in front of the house (and I can't disagree). And in the process, we are removing/replacing the tree on the curb that has contributed to the damage.

So, I guess our personal carbon footprint (Sorry, Sven!) will increase as we remove more CO2 eating trees. Though, what we're removing is almost all dead, after all.

But we are contributing to the economy!

DO believe the hype!

Two of the most over promoted people in the world joined forces yesterday--Oprah and the "illusionist" David Blaine.

Though I didn't watch it live, you can read about it on Oprah's website. He was attempting to set the world record for holding his breath, I think. I can't concentrate past the weird blue water sphere that he performed in and the totally awesome logo that he sports on his jumpsuit.

I've never been a db fan, but at least when he presented himself as a quirky street performer, I found him interesting. Lately he's come off as an attention seeker that wants to damage his body each and every time he appears in public. And I just can't get past the notion that it's all fake. Everyone KNOWS that magicians are anything but magical--they just make you THINK they are doing something while they do another think right under you nose. Why should this be any different?

But what truly perplexes me here is that Oprah, who is usually so interested in changing the world one person at a time, has this on her show. What's her angle here?

Wait . . .

. . . you don't think?

Oh my gosh, Oprah KNOWS that global warming is coming and she and Blaine are trying to warn people about rising ocean tides! They are trying to save the human race by circumventing the evolutionary process and encourage increased lung capacity!

David Blaine is the first icythus sapiens!